A common form of packaging of consumer goods is sometimes called a “blister package”, in which the front of the package typically has a semi-rigid transparent plastic shell, typically shaped in some fashion to conform at least in part to the shape of the retained consumer goods. The back of such packages may be plastic but typically may be cardboard with product information printed thereon; alternatively, a card may be placed inside of a package having both front and back plastic panels or shells, sometimes called a clamshell package.
Another form of packaging includes using twist ties, elastics or adhesive tape extending forwardly of a rearward panel of some sort to secure the product to such panel. This is done at times with no plastic shell over the product, and at other times with a plastic shell over the product.
A recent trend is to allow some of the product to be touched or moved in order to satisfy purchaser curiosity prior to sale. In such cases, it is necessary to keep the product retained in the package; therefore, simply tying the product to a panel with twist ties is not deemed to be acceptable; but wire harness ties are used.
Packages with shaped shells and panels that must be loaded before being sealed, and packages having numerous parts that must be assembled in order to complete the packaging operation, are expensive in terms of both material and manpower.